King Pins

Peter wrote: I just read the change wheel bearing HOW TO, and I can now see how the special tool is needed to get at the wheel bearing - 160 ft lb force - that's nearly as much as a Mini drive shaft...:woohoo: . Just wondered why I might need to undo the wheel bearing retaining ring to replace the king pins...?

I live in Rochdale. ...somebody has to... :lol:

All advice welcome. Cheers.

EDIT* Oh, and what's the advice on the shims please...? where do they sit?

deff dont need touch the wheel bearings if doing kingpins, whole hub with bearings in will come off as one unit once kingpins are removed
shims - thin strips that go on the kingpins to pad them out as bearings are new and un-worn (is that a word) allow you to tighten kingpin bolts without putting to much load on new bearings
sammies and SJ's quite often have them on, if you know of any SJ / sammies in scrappys get the kingpins off and you may find shims that will fit. as the kingpin bearings wear and bed in you can remove shims. these are kingpin shims, not bearing shims that would push bearing down further. these raise the kingpins. hope this makes sense. i'll try and get a pic of the ones i have

heres one, or you can pack out kingpins using that gasket in a tube type stuff
hub should be able to swivel quite freely without any vertical play

Thanks again. That really does help.

Went to the local bearing stockist today, and they could get the bearings and the oil seal, but that will be tomorrow.

I thanked the chap and asked roughly how much they would be, because I knew they had a minimum order of £10. He mumbled and said he would do them for me for £20. I uttered the famous Yorkshire war cry - HOW MUCH!!!???, and he said, no, that's OK, I'll do them for you for £20. :ohmy:

...unfortunately I was wearing a suit - and its difficult to look like a mechanic whilst wearing a suit, (even a Matalan suit...) so I went about my business. :whistle:

Could anyone give me a ball park figure on how much these two bearings and the drive shaft oil seal are likely to cost - just roughly. Its a while since I bought bearings, but this seems a bit steep to me. Sounds almost like Zuki prices...?

Final question. What are the shims made of? Are they shim steel...? The king pins didn't have any when I removed them, (unless they are there and I missed them...?) so presumably, the factory set up didn't require shimming...?

So no Jimny action tonight. Hopefully tomorrow.

Thanks again

Peter

Nice cups by the way...

£20 is about right for replacements.

Under no circumstances damage the rubber seal around the swivel housing.
A new one costs as much as a small flat in Central London.

I bought a new spider joint this year, tried everywhere, and I mean everywhere and the cheapest that I could get one: a blueprint part, was £29. (The LandRover ones were £4.50 IIRR)

(I could have got a GKN one sent from America for £16, then there is the customs fee, back hander to the post office etc, plus a long wait)

Welcome to the world of Suzuki.

20 quid doesnt seem to bad but i'm no expert on bearing prices. remember this should be for 2 bearings, 2 outer races and oil seal
martin sells them in the shop but i think he;s away at the minute
just noticed that the 'how to' guide states that the upper and lower kingpins are different and should be labelled ? can anyone explain as they look the same to me ?? peter can you see anything that makes them different ?

think got some spares so will have a closer look tomorrow
shims are steel about half a mil thick

jonplace wrote: can anyone explain as they look the same to me ?? peter can you see anything that makes them different ?

Not sure they are different...?, but I suspect that they wear differently when in use, so it makes sense to refit them from whence they came...? I will look tomorrow, as they are in the garage, and it more than my life is worth to unset the alarms and go out at this time... if you get my drift...:whistle:

Thanks for the update on the prices. I was aware that Martin sells them, and that he is away, but I needed to make progress...

I REALLY struggled to get the bottom King Pin out. The top one was easy (is that because it has no load?) but the bottom one was a challenge...:whistle: I suspect because of the load, and the bottom bearing had virtually disintegrated.

From an earlier response, if I had been able to remove the bearing, and the back plate, and the ABS ring, I think it would have been easier to work the King Pin round. As it was I could only address it from the back. It came off eventually, but it was, as they say, a King nuisance...